Fantasy Baseball: Early failures leave season open on closers

If anyone needed more evidence that a fantasy owner need never worry too much about acquiring closers, there was Thursday's game between the Tigers and Red Sox.

Before the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said that Jose Valverde and his 5.59 ERA would be removed from the ninth-inning role and Joaquin Benoit would take over the duties. As he said that, Benoit sported a 1.80 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, so it seems like a good idea.

As of Friday morning, Benoit still was not owned in half of ESPN fantasy leagues, so picking him up may also be a good idea.

By the end of Thursday's game, Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey had blown his third save in his last five chances, a period that saw his ERA balloon from 1.47 to 4.03 since June 10. That happens when you allow seven earned runs in four innings, while allowing eight hits, four of them homers, and five walks.

As of Friday morning, Andrew Miller (with his 43 strikeouts in 26 innings), Koji Uehara (with his 2.10 ERA and 0.87 WHIP) and Junichi Tazawa (with his earlier promotion to closer this season when Bailey and Joel Hanrahan were hurt) were owned in only a handful of leagues.

These unsettled closer situations can be a boon to fantasy owners, giving opportunities where one cannot always predict they will exist. Overall, seven players this season who were fantasy draft afterthoughts have already posted at least five saves (see chart), and this situation makes it appear that a couple of more are about to join that club.

So even at the summer solstice, there are closers to be had. It's like fantasy baseball pagan Christmas in June.

If you need something else to celebrate, though, there is the news that Manny Ramirez is still hoping to make a return to Major League Baseball.

Granted, Ramirez has not played in the majors since getting in five games with the Rays in 2011 and since has been trailed by more potential substance-use issues than Amanda Bynes, but leave it to Manny to never be discouraged.

Also leave it to Manny to make inexplicable decisions, ending his contract with a Taiwanese team a week early “to spend time with my family in Taiwan and then wait for an offer from Japan or the United States.” For things like that clearly cannot be done a week later. When Manny wants to wait, he wants to wait right away.

He did perform well while with the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan, batting .352 with eight homers and 43 RBIs in 49 games. It seems he may have enough skills left to keep him on our radar, though I cannot imagine many MLB teams are keeping too close a tab on him.

So instead I propose a new fantasy game in which we track former stars and gain points based on just how inflated are their concepts of current worth. Jose Canseco will also be a first-round pick.

Sometimes a former star actually has the stuff to still make an impact, and Roy Oswalt really pitched in a game for the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.

Oswalt looked like he could be done at baseball's top level after going 4-3 with a 5.80 ERA in 17 appearances, including just nine starts, with the Rangers last year.

He was picked up by the Rockies in May, though, and made five starts with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 2.16 ERA and 0.93 WHIP.

Those numbers did not look nearly that good against the Nationals on Thursday, when Oswalt went five innings, taking the loss as he gave up four runs and nine hits. He did not walk a batter, though, and struck out 11.

Anyone who strikes out 11 in five innings deserves at least a second look, and Oswalt is slated to get that chance on Wednesday afternoon in Boston.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from the 35-year-old Oswalt is Gerrit Cole, the 22-year-old who the Pirates hope is their future ace.

Cole has won his first three starts with Pittsburgh, going a combined 18-1/3 innings. He struck out a total of only three batters in his first two starts, but set down five on strikes in 6-1/3 innings Friday night. That is at least partially by design, though, as Cole has a slider that he did not throw in his first two starts.

He has displayed good control with his limited repertoire, allowing only one walk. His pitch-to-contact strategy had opponents batting .292 against him after two starts, but he now has that down to .254 with a 3.44 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.

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